


charity auctions

by lovelyrutabagas



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 16:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11535930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyrutabagas/pseuds/lovelyrutabagas
Summary: Peter's at least 80% sure that this is the worst way to get a date with Liz Allan.





	charity auctions

Peter shuffled nervously in front of the poster, pen in hand, debating whether to sign his name or not. On one hand, he wouldn't be the only person on the list, but, on the other hand, if nobody bet on him, he'd be the only one without a date.

The poster had over a dozen names already, and Peter knew that more would be added after lunch, but he still couldn't force himself to sign it. It was for a good cause, the money from the initial sign-up and the following bets would be given to Student Council for them to use for field trips and prom.

It was only ten bucks.

And if nobody bet on him, Peter could count on Ned to do so, even if the thought of it embarrassed him. Putting his pen away, Peter sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

He squared his shoulders. He wasn't signing it, and none would be the wiser that he nearly made a fool out of himself.

Peter's phone vibrated relentlessly from inside his pocket and he scrambled for it. The first thing he noticed were the four texts from Ned, each one telling Peter that he'd been gone for too long and that their teacher was bound to notice soon. His eyes widened at the realization that he had been gone for almost twenty minutes and he ran through the school to woodshop, dreading the inevitable conversation with Ned.

As he raced away, Peter missed the hand that wrote his name on the poster and slipped in the ten dollar ticket fee.

…

"You didn't sign up! Dude, why not?" Ned's voice was a barely controlled whisper-yell, and in the crowded auditorium Peter glanced wildly about whilst shushing him. Someone from Student Council handed them both a green-colored paddle for the auction. It was being held during the last half-hour of school, and everyone was excited.

Well, almost everyone.

"Ned, shut up!" Peter pulled him to a section clear of other students and they both sat down, hunched over and close together. Michelle made her way over to the farthest corner of their section, but Peter ignored her, and continued his conversation with Ned.

"I didn't sign up, Ned, because it's weird! I'm basically selling myself out for the one-in-a-million chance that Liz'll notice me, and then bid on me? C'mon, man." Peter furiously whispered. Ned turned to him, already arguing his case.

"Peter, you know that people like you, right? Like, they see you as attractive and honestly you're cute, bro! Who wouldn't want a date with you?" Here Ned put his hand on Peter's shoulder comfortingly. "The worst that would've happened is that you were bought up by some freak, oh, or Flash."

Peter gave his friend an "oh, really?" look and ignored the rest of Ned's argument. The assembly was starting and the students who had chosen to participate were being directed to sit down on stage.

Most of them looked nervous, red-faced and shifting in their seats.

The chatter from the crowd dimmed as several Student Council members announced the auction. Ned and Peter joked quietly throughout and kept their paddles firmly in their laps; neither of them wanted to accidentally bid on some random kid, let alone someone they actually knew.

Peter was in the middle of miming his fight with Ant-Man to Ned when his name was called. He froze, hands half-raised as he contemplated running out of the auditorium and never returning. Ned shoved his shoulder and Peter gave him a confused look.

The blonde girl who called his name before did so again, a note of impatience in her voice. "Peter Parker! Will you please make your way to the stage?"

Peter shook his head quickly and tried to slink out of the large room before anyone other than Ned saw him. He was almost to the door when hands gripped his shoulders tightly and spun him around, marching him toward the blonde.

By now, everyone could see them and Peter flushed in humiliation as people started laughing. He glared at whoever was still holding him and was only a little surprised when he saw their face.

"Michelle, really?" Michelle shrugged uncaringly, and simply pushed him towards the stairs to the stage.

"Break a leg, pretty boy." She whispered with mockingly, and then walked back to her own seat.

Peter walked on stage, a horrible twisting sensation in his stomach and he shoved his hands into his pockets. The girl waved him over, and, with great reluctance, Peter approached. He leaned in to whisper to her, already telling her that he hadn't signed up and that this was a horrible mistake, but she wasn't listening.

Instead, she started to list off his traits and hobbies.

"He's a nice guy, quiet, but sweet. He's a nerd. Nothing wrong with that, just saying, and he's a member of our school's academic decathlon team. He'd be a real catch for someone looking for an attentive listener, and a cute one at that. But..." she grinned at him, teeth impossibly white, and he shrunk away from her. She rolled her eyes.

"Peter's a bit of a bad boy, since he likes to show up late to class and then leave five minutes later, what's up with that?" She giggled at him, and if Peter wasn't in the middle of dying he would've thought it was cute.

Except he _was_ dying, and at the moment, everyone in the room was so ugly, he could almost convince himself that were Chitauri masquerading as human teens. Except Ned, of course.

"How about we start at twenty dollars?"

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, his face probably as red as his Spider suit, as he waited for the inevitable rejection from the sea of teens in front of him.

"Ok, we have twenty! Can I have thirty? Thirty, done! Forty?"

He nearly choked on his own spit he was so surprised. People were actually bidding on him?! Multiple people? Not just one?!

The twisting in his gut lessened until it was just a distant memory. He blushed at the attention as the price went from forty to sixty to eighty.

Peter pulled his hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck, a bashful grin on his still red face. Part of him was disappointed; he didn't sign up for the auction and he hadn't paid the fee. Technically, he wasn't a candidate, and whoever won the bid would be pissed when they found out.

"A hundred bucks for Penis Parker!"

He deflated, his previous good feelings leaving him suddenly and anxiety took its place. Flash had just put up a hundred dollars to buy his time, and he wouldn't care if Peter was officially part of the auction or not. A horrible realization hit him; Flash had signed him up! This was all some terrible plot to humiliate him after school and not get in trouble.

"Ok, um, one hundred and ten?" Blondie's voice was muted and she wasn't exactly confident in his ability to net that much.

A paddle rose in the air and Blondie and Peter both focused on it, though he couldn't see who had put it up. Blondie, however, recognized them and she gave a small cheer.

"Alright! One hundred and ten, done! Can we get one hundred and twenty? Come on, people, Peter's a great guy, well worth the cost."

Peter gave her an incredulous look. "Cost" was going a bit too far, and Peter definitely didn't want to be bought up by Flash.

Flash scoffed and raised his paddle, calling out: "One fifty."

_Oh my god, I'm dead._

No one would upstage that amount. It was too much!

A female voice called from the crowd, "Two hundred."

Blondie looked to her fellow council members and they all agreed. "Sold! To Liz Allan of the senior class!"

Peter was ready to faint.

Liz Allan. Liz Allan had bid on him. She paid two hundred bucks for his time and now she was pulling him off stage for some reason and Ned was giving him a thumbs-up and Michelle was giving him a smug look and Flash was pouting.

Pouting.

What world had Peter fallen into?

…

Liz dropped a pile of streamers in his arms and directed him to the entrance to the gym.

Peter smiled weakly and obeyed. As he hung the colorful streamers, he reflected on the past hour he'd spent in the gym with Liz.

Alone.

In complete silence.

He was starting to think this was punishment for skipping out on the decathlon, something that wasn't even his fault, when Liz started playing songs that would be at the dance.

It was fast paced and matched the beat of his heart and Peter felt his Spidey Senses tingling. Liz approached him from behind and helped pin a stray streamer in place and their hands brushed accidentally. Peter's face burned bright red and he glanced at Liz from the corner of his eye. Her cheeks were slightly pink and she kept her eyes focused on the streamers.

In the background the song changed to time a slow, romantic one. Peter bit his lip and made a move.

"He-hey Liz, do you, I mean, would you like to, um, dance? With me, I mean." His heart stuttered in his chest and he waited with baited breath for her answer.

Liz smiled at him, holding her hand out, "Let's do it."

He slid his hand into hers and, after an encouraging nod from her, rested his other hand on her waist. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and they began to sway.

_Don't screw it up. Don't screw it up._

The silence between them wasn't oppressive, but Peter couldn't stop himself from blurting out: "Why did you bid on me?" Almost immediately Peter wanted to smash his head on the nearest brick wall. Why ask her that right when they started dancing?

Liz tightened her grip on his hand and turned her head away from him, laughing. "Well, I didn't go in with the intention to buy someone for a date, but I did need some help with decorating. So, the plan was: if anyone didn't have a bidder, I would bid on them and they would help out in here."

"Oh, so you're just using me then?" Peter teased, wanting to keep the conversation going.

"That was the plan, but then I heard Flash start to bid on you, and I couldn't let you suffer that fate." She then thought on her answer and quickly added, "Not that I wouldn't help someone else Flash was bidding on, you were just the only one."

"Right… About that, Liz, I don't know how my name was brought up, you know? I didn't even sign up for the auction, or pay the fee!"

Liz blinked. "Your name was on the list, though. Clarisse told me that you tried to say you weren't on the auction list, but that you paid the fee and signed your name. She figured you were just nervous; did you really not sign up?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who did it." Oh, Peter had an idea on who did it. Flash was such a jerk.

"Wow. Good thing I kept bidding, right? Don't worry about whoever signed you up for the auction, you're with me."

_Oh my god, did she just-?_

Liz pulled him closer and they spent the rest of the dance in silence, only pulling away when the next song stopped. They went back to work, occasionally looking over at each other and grinning.

When Peter finished hanging up the streamers and blowing up balloons, he waited patiently for Liz to gather her things, and offered to walk with her to where her dad was waiting.

She'd said yes, and they reached for each other's hands at the same time, drawing a laugh from Liz, whose face had flushed prettily. Peter was on riding on the high of spending so much time with his crush, who was acting like she liked him back, and nothing could ruin it.

Before they walked outside, Liz pulled away from him. Peter tried to mask his hurt and shifted in place.

"Oh, Peter, it's not like that! It's just, my dad, he's the type of dad who grills any possible boyfriend-," she stopped herself, covering her face with her hands, while Peter stared, open-mouthed at her.

_Possible boyfriend?!_

"I get it, yeah," he laughed to cover the way his voice cracked, and then nodded to the door. "Can't keep the man waiting, can we?"

She smiled, and kissed his cheek, walking quickly through the door, and missed the way he froze, then immediately turned tomato-red. He pushed past the door, and met up with Liz at her dad's car. The man had his back to them, talking on his phone, and Liz motioned Peter closer.

"You need a ride, Peter?" Liz was placing her things in the back seat of the car and Peter grinned goofily at her.

"Nah, I' m good; I like to walk home. Thanks, though," Peter said, hands wrapped around his backpack.

Liz straightened up and grinned. "Well, if you ever need a ride, let me know, ok? Oh!" Here, she walked around the car and hugged him.

"If you want, we could go on a real date outside of school. Call me, ok?"

Peter nodded and blinked when she wrote her number on his hand. She handed him her pen, and he wrote his number on her hand. They smiled at each other, and Liz's dad finished up with his call.

Liz got in the car and her dad turned around, and Peter felt his stomach seize up when he saw his face. The Vulture.

The Vulture looked over the hood of the car, looking Peter over, and seemingly found him worthy.

"You and Liz have a good time, kid?" His voice was just as deep and evil as the last time Peter had heard him, and he paled, skin almost as white as the man's cardigan sweater.

He was still waiting for an answer. "We were just decorating the gym for the dance, sir." He hummed and Peter hastened to say, "But yes, I think we had fun."

The Vulture patted the hood, and said: "Good. That's good. Need a ride?"

Peter balked at the thought of being in the same enclosed space as a villain, and shook his head rapidly. "No. No thank you, sir."

"See you around, kid." Then he got in the car. Liz waved goodbye and began talking to her dad.

Peter waved back, his mind numb as he tried to process everything he'd just witnessed.

Liz's dad was the Vulture.

Peter mused to himself as he walked into the nearest alley and began to change into his suit.

Did she know? Probably not, since she didn't seem like she was a villain in disguise. Then again, neither did her dad, who was wearing a cardigan, for some reason.

_I guess villains wear cardigans and pick their kids up from school._

…

an- and then peter had to deal with flash and his shit the next day, but it was cool cuz liz and him started dating

anyways if you haven't noticed let me tell you,,, dialogue is my worst enemy I can't write it,,,, also am I the only one who ships them? where are all my fellow liz/peter shippers? is it just me? screaming into the void?

oh yeah and it was michelle who signed his name and paid for it, she was sick of the love sick looks btwn the two


End file.
